A hooded ferryman rowing across a moonlit, misty river

An Original Musical in Development

THE BOATMAN

Seven strangers. One river. The last journey none of them chose.

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The Story

A crossing, not an ending

In the same instant, from seven different places, seven strangers leave their lives — and wake beside a river that should not exist. An ageless ferryman offers them passage. As the boat crosses, the water shows each of them what they postponed: the unreturned call, the moment filmed but never felt, the words never spoken, the life saved for later. Before they reach the far shore they must decide whether to keep holding the one behind them.

Read & Listen

The Journey in Twelve Scenes

Read each scene. When you reach the gold cue, play that track in Apple Music, then come back here and keep reading.

Seven silhouetted strangers on a misty riverbank under a gold moon

Scene 1 of 12

The Shore That Should Not Exist

This scene's song: Track 01 — Strange Waters

Darkness. Then sound, layered and ordinary: the tick of a car indicator, a phone buzzing against a kitchen counter, the bell of a train pulling into a station. Each one stops mid-beat, as if a hand has closed over it.

Mist lifts on a riverbank that belongs to no map. Seven people wake separately — on stones, in reeds, at the very edge of black water. Far across the river a small boat is pulling away from the opposite shore. It has just set down another group. None of them saw who.

Mara(brushing grit from her blazer, already counting heads)"Can anyone tell me where we are?"

Niko"I was driving. I was literally just driving."

Ruth"I was at the bank. I had the slip in my hand."

June"If this is a set, they forgot the exits."

Leon"Nobody touch anything. Let's just — nobody move."

Ella turns on her phone out of habit. The screen glows. Her reflection appears in the glass a full second after she moves, as if the image has to travel a long way to reach her. She lowers it slowly.

Ella"My face is late."

David(he does not look at the phone)"That's not possible."

The river begins to move. Not a current — a slow, breathing shimmer, threads of gold drifting beneath the surface like light remembered rather than reflected.

PLAY TRACK 01 — STRANGE WATERS

Ensemble — the arrival

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Pause here. The song plays in Apple Music in a new tab — listen, then return to keep reading.

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The Score

Twelve Songs

  1. 01

    Strange Waters

    Ensemble — the arrival

  2. 02

    Danger in the Water

    Ensemble — the river turns

  3. 03

    The Boatman

    The Boatman — introduction

  4. 04

    I Thought I Had Time

    Niko — male solo

  5. 05

    One More Page

    Ella — female solo with ensemble

  6. 06

    The Words I Never Said

    Leon & David — male duet

  7. 07

    Everybody Leaves Something

    Mara opens — full ensemble

  8. 08

    If I'd Known

    David — male solo

  9. 09

    The Life I Was Saving

    Ruth & June — female duet

  10. 10

    Don't Make Me Cross

    Full company — five-stage climax

  11. 11

    What We Leave Behind

    Mara — female solo

  12. 12

    Across the Water

    The Boatman — finale solo

Dramatis Personae

The Passengers

Ageless

The Boatman

The ferryman of the river. Patient, weathered, carrying one regret he never names.

24

Niko

Driver and student who always meant to call his mother and sister back.

27

Ella

Videographer who captured every beautiful moment instead of living it.

36

Leon

Kept a love unspoken for eleven years, afraid of changing what he had.

52

David

Estranged father whose pride outlasted four years of silence with his son.

42

Mara

School administrator, the fixer of everything — who must learn to surrender.

63

Ruth

Saved her money, her joy, her trip of a lifetime — for a later that never came.

31

June

Waited to feel ready before making the move that would change her life.

For Producers & Collaborators

Concept musical in development

The Boatman is an original, through-composed chamber musical for a cast of eight plus ensemble, running approximately 100 minutes without intermission. It has not been produced. The material here represents the current concept, story and song cycle.

Tone

Intimate and mythic. Contemporary characters inside an ancient frame — grief held with warmth and humor. A meditation on postponement, presence and letting go.

Staging

  • Stylized river platform — no real water
  • Projection on scrim for memory and current
  • Frozen-cast tableaux and lighting isolation
  • A single tracked boat unit
  • Deaths conveyed only through sound

Structure

Twelve songs across twelve scenes, building to the five-stage company number "Don't Make Me Cross" and closing on the Boatman's six-minute solo as the cycle begins again.

Contact details coming soon Pitch PDF — coming soon